GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Ministry of Planning

RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 852
TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.03.2011
Number of People Living Below Poverty Line in Bengaluru

852. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASHEKHAR:
Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to the state:

(a)    whether the planning commission has conducted any survey about the number of people living below poverty line in Karnataka and in particular in its capital city Bengaluru;

(b)   If so, the details thereof and outcome therefore;

(c)    Whether it is a fact that the estimates of planning commission do not match with the estimates of Karnataka Government;

(d)   If so, the details thereof; and

(e)    The poverty alleviation and sectoral programmes being implemented by the Central and State Government to improve the quality of life of the people living below poverty line in Karnataka?

ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR PLANNING, PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
AND EARTH SCIENCES

(DR. ASHWANI Kumar)

(a) & (b):  The planning commission estimates the number of proportion of people  living below the poverty line for Rural and Urban areas separately for all India and for each state including Karnataka on the basis of Monthly Per capita Consumption Expenditure ( MPCE) data obtained from the large sample survey on household consumption expenditure carried out by the National
Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of Ministry Statistics & Programme Implementation with an interval of five years approximately. As per the latest estimates of poverty available for the year 2004-05 the number of people living Below Poverty Line (BPL) in rural and urban areas of Karnataka  is 75.05 lakhs and 63.83 respectively. The planning commission estimates poverty at the State level only. City wise data is not maintained.

(b)&(d): Planning commission is the only agency responsible for making official estimates of poverty. The state governments are not responsible for identifying the poor households in accordance with the guidelines issued by Ministry of Rural Development (MORD) and Ministry of Housing and Urban poverty Alleviation (HUPA) in the rural and urban areas respectively. The planning commission is not aware about any poverty estimates by the Government of Karnataka.

(e):  The Central Government is implementing a number of poverty alleviation programmes such as: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), Targeted Public Distribution System (TDPS) etc., in all the States including Karnataka. These programmes are implemented through the State Government and State level implementing agencies. In addition, Government of Karnataka is also implementing certain programmes like Distribution of Waste Land to the Landless, Urban Poor families assisted under the Seven Point Charter- IHSDP, and Ganga Kalyana- Individual and Community Irrigation etc.